by Chris Hechtl
“Yes, ma'am. I suggest we narrow that down further with an IFF ping.”
“I'd rather we didn't give way our position thank you,” the captain drawled. “Comm, set up a relay to the nearest messenger buoy. Have it ping our IFF.”
“Aye aye, ma’am. It'll take a moment to set up the script and send the orders.”
“No problem. I've got time. In the meantime, Guns, work on where and what we're dealing with and come up with some options if we want or need to play with them.”
“Aye aye, ma’am. Hopefully not.”
<()>^<()>
Captain Mochadeyn received the IFF ping and felt intense instant relief as his bridge crew broke out into cheers. “It's coming from where?”
“It's an IFF, but it's coming from a messenger buoy.”
The captain instantly realized what the other captain was doing. “Cute. Trying to pull one over on us. Comm, do the same thing.”
“Sir?”
“You heard me. Send our IFFs to the same messenger buoy and set it off with a script.”
<()>^<()>
Captain S'th was amused when she got the report of the IFFs coming from the same messenger buoy she had used. “Cute. Someone over there has a sense of humor.”
“Yes, ma'am,” the XO said all smiles.
“Comm, set up a channel. We might as well compare notes.”
“Aye aye, ma’am.”
“Nice seeing you! We'll let them know you are coming!” Captain S'th quipped when she opened a channel to the other ship.
The delay was over an hour before she got a response since they were nearly on opposite sides of the solar system. Data was of course tagged to it; each ship's A.I. was sending data in the form of logs to keep everyone up-to-date.
“Hey! Not cool! The least you could do is stick around to watch our back while we're here! There are pirates around you know!”
“What? We're not sticking around for you!”
“Hey! Damn it … a little support would be nice!”
“Captain, they have a Dora class support vessel with them,” the XO said. The Naga captain shifted several eyes to her XO.
“Eh?”
“And we could use the services of such a vessel,” the XO suggested.
The captain sighed. “Okay. Comm, let the Beta Convoy commander know we'll rendezvous with them and remain in orbit with them and in company while we borrow their factory ship. But we're not traveling at their speed.”
“Aye aye, sir,” the comm rating said.
The XO smiled. That might allow them to squeeze some repairs in and quite possibly a little more of a safety net. Maybe even an octave upward. That would be nice; otherwise, they might as well be traveling with the Beta convoy. It would also allow them some time on a friendly ship. It would be nice to see a friendly face after so long away from civilization.
<()>^<()>
Tau-1929
“So, is this the new normal?” Governor Farnsworth asked sourly. They'd both gotten the alert of a possible solar storm from the satellites in orbit of the sun. The initial warning had been misinterpreted as a ship passing through until they'd gotten clarification.
Which was something of a relief to both parties. Not that either one was quite ready to admit it.
“What? What do you mean?” Governor Lor, the Tauren governor asked. He was a progressive, and his recent election had firmly put him in command of his battered civilization.
“The Feds? Coming and going as they please?” His crotchety counterpart on Samos asked after an interval. Each segment of their conversation took several minutes to get to one side due to the distances involved. They usually worked on paperwork while waiting on a response. Some had ascribed it to something called HAM radio.
“I certainly hope so. Personally we like it over here,” Governor Lor stated smugly.
“Like it. Sure, you mean you like all the tech and money they are spending.”
“Damn straight! It's helping our economy immensely! Everything's booming. We're rebuilding. I mean, it sucks that the plagues killed so many. We can't get our loved ones back. But we can rebuild. And that's what we're going to do.”
“Yeah, except when the pirates show up and take it all again. Mark my words …”
“Then we'll rebuild again and again. And the Feds will come around and kick their ass.”
“Maybe.”
“Hey, you heard what they did in the capital, remember? That big ass force that passed through here got whittled down to a nub.”
“Not a nub,” Governor Farnsworth protested vehemently. “More like a Binta fruit getting its rind and fruit rotted out only to find the hard spiny core at the center. Remember, two ships got away. One of them was that big bastard.”
“Yeah, I know. And believe me, I know you aren't going to let me forget it either,” Governor Lor said wryly.
“Damn right I won't. What makes you want to make us more of a target anyway?” The human governor wasn't at all thrilled by the media broadcasts from Delos about the government possibly purchasing an inner system shuttle. He didn't like the idea of the Tauren being able to show up on his planet.
Though, he did privately admit he liked the idea of being able to trade goods with the neighboring planet. It would help his planet's economy. And, if Delos was the one who did the major lifting on funding, why not? All he had to do was sit back and reap the profits of them coming to his world. And they'd have to do it on his terms too!
“What do you mean?”
“By joining up with the Feds! Spirits of Space, it's starting up here. People hear the crap you are getting, see all the ships visiting … is that Conestoga due back anytime soon?”
“Not that I'm aware of. She's supposed to make regular runs through here to Lebynthos. They didn't give me a schedule though.”
“Oh.”
“Planning to sell it to the pirates to save your own hide?”
“If I have to, sure.”
“Bastard.” There was a note of amused resignation in Governor Lor's reply.
Shro could have kicked himself over the admission though. He was starting to get some pushback from special interest groups on his planet. His policy of limited isolationism wasn't sitting well with some. Many didn't like hearing that their neighbors were doing far better than they were.
Even if they were benefiting by proxy. He was going to have to rethink his position sometime or find himself out of a job he knew. Not that he was quite ready to face it just yet.
“Yeah well, you're one to talk. How many people did you step over, how many bodies did it take to build your monument and get you in that seat?”
“Low blow, Shro, low blow.”
There was a long pause. Finally, Governor Farnsworth grunted. “Hit a nerve, did I?”
“Yeah. I lost family. I know you did too.”
“I know. If it helps, sorry.”
“Thanks. Same time tomorrow?”
“I've got a full day. Day after?”
“Yeah. And think about it. Think about what I said. The Feds are a hell of a lot better than the pirates.”
“I have. I have a lot. And yes, I agree, they are better. We can hold them accountable to some degree, and they just don't take whatever the hell they want and kill our people. But I'm not going to back this until I see more results, then some trade goods and shit. Have you seen the stuff on their tax rates?”
“Yeah, I have. It's not as bad as you think, not when you factor in that they give us a one-year grace period to get our act together, then it graduates in. And there are write-offs we can use for the first few years. Look, I've got to go. Talk to you later.”
“Roger that. Samos out.”
“Delos out.”
Chapter 13
Tortuga star system
The sudden spark of energy announcing the unexpected arrival of a ship at the Tau-4526W jump point had every ship on alert. Ships scrambled to action. Many thought it was the Feds coming in on an unexpected jump point to av
oid the defenses at the Tau-1252 one.
Admiral Ishmael kicked himself for not considering the option and placing a picket there. He was still kicking himself when an IFF winged its way across the vacuum. Intense relief spread through the ship almost like a wave. It hit him as he was picking his way through the ship to his flag bridge.
“Ar, it is friendly, sir, the intruder. She's Saladin,” Kix reported over his communicator.
The admiral stared at it and then nodded. “Replaying the message.”
“Sim Sim, Saladin is here,” a familiar voice said.
The admiral snorted. That was Joe all right, always the ham.
He had to admit, that simple stupid statement was a relief to him. It not only confirmed he now had another cruiser but also one of his old friends. And that stupid saying was something only Joe did so it let him know it wasn't a spy.
“Let them know to make rendezvous with us. Things have … changed.”
“Aye, sir. That's putting it mildly.”
<()>^<()>
Saladin broadcast the news of the Federation convoy. It amused Leonidas. He shook his head and sent a call back that they had already tangled with her.
When Saladin arrived at their location three days later, they noted the massive changes to the star system, including the debris cloud where Tortuga had once been. Questions bubbled through the crew like cook's mystery gumbo stew. Captain Joe Hammer dressed in his best uniform and then took a cutter over to the flagship. “What the devil happened here?” he demanded.
“Nice to see you too. And I'd like a better report than that, given our respective ranks,” the admiral drawled.
Captain Cutter grimaced and then noted the admiral was not in the mood to play games. “Sorry, sir,” he said, deciding to play it straight. “We picked up knowledge of a Federation convoy if you can believe it. When we stopped at one of the worlds they'd visited, we got booty they'd traded with the lubbers.”
The admiral nodded.
Kix stood behind the admiral and cocked his head. “And?”
“And, it be cursed booty. We ran into engineering issues in hyper, so I ordered the ship to stop and make repairs. We tried some of the booty, computers and the like. But when the tech was plugged into our network somethin' or other happened. My cyber people admitted the booty was cursed with viruses and such.”
“Ah,” the admiral murmured thoughtfully.
“It delayed our arrival by months. It took a long time to sort it out. We were nearly lost in hyperspace.”
“Just jumping here? From where?”
“From Mykonos. My engineers had to purge the computers in order to get us back on track. Only our bein' so close saved us.”
“Pass on a warning to other ships to virus check all Fed booty before using it,” the Neolion said mildly to his Neochimp flag captain and XO.
“Aye, sir,” the Neochimp replied with a curt nod.
“We heard talk of a plague?”
“Aye. We heard that too,” the admiral drawled, looking over his shoulder to the Neochimp. Kix snorted.
Slowly the Neolion's eye returned to the human captain. “You're a tad late,” he drawled.
“Better late than never,” Joe said defensively. He'd picked up the radio traffic, but it had been encrypted. The flagship had refused to send him the new keys. He was supposed to get them while he was on board.
“Aye, there is that.”
Well, lad, tis a long and sordid story ….” They filled him in about the Horathian betrayal. The captain sucked in a breath and then let it out in a disgusted sigh. “So we are alone.”
“Aye.”
“And the base?”
“The Horathians set the plague off inside. I had no choice but to destroy it to give our comrades mercy,” the admiral stated.
Captain Cutter stared at him. His eyes cut to Kix in disbelief, looking for denial or confirmation. Slowly the Neochimp's brown eyes locked onto his and then his entire head nodded.
“Damn. I guess we did come late,” the captain drawled.
“Aye, that you did. And you stopped at a world that be haunted by memory of the plague so did you pick up booty on it?” The admiral asked, leaning forward.
Captain Cutter considered denying it but there was no point. Word was no doubt getting to his ship. Someone somewhere would admit the truth. If he was caught out in a lie to the admiral, it could mean his throat. “Aye. We did.”
“You have the cure?”
“Cures. We got copies of the data. But when we ran into the cursed booty, we locked it all down. I was sorely tempted to pitch the dross out the lock and be done with it.”
“Don't. I'll have my people check it.”
“Aye,” the human captain said with a nod. After a moment he felt like squirming. Instead, he took the plunge. “I hesitate to ask, bein' the state of my ship and the importance of the booty, but …”
“Yes, we'll compensate you. We'll get the engineers to fix your ship. Have a list sent to them. But it will be the payment.”
“Aye,” Captain Cutter said, annoyed he was getting shortchanged.
“And, since your ship was the first to find the cure, I'll be sure to have the doctors inoculate your crew with the vaccines they make,” the admiral said, seemingly in an expansive mood.
Captain Cutter's eyes widened. He saw Kix almost protest, but he spat in his hand and held it out. “Deal,” he said, realizing the potential profit from that. After all, he didn't have a ship if his crew became plague victims.
“Then we have an accord,” the admiral purred as they shook hands.
<()>^<()>
After the human captain left, Kix cleared his throat. The admiral turned to look up at him. “A problem, Mister Baker?”
“It's just … why let them be first, sir? I thought …”
“Ah. There be more to it than my generosity,” the admiral said as he got up and stretched. “His ship can be the guinea pigs,” he said.
Kix caught on and snorted in amusement at the idea.
“You noticed he considered not telling us of the cure?” the admiral asked.
“I saw the hesitation. He thought he had a chance for great profit had he lied and kept his mouth shut. But he came clean.”
“Aye, that he did. Make sure it is the real data he turns over, not a placebo.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
“I did take note of one thing,” the admiral drawled.
“Oh?”
“Your report about the ship traffic we saw. You said it was Saladin and it wasn't. T'was Stingy Jack's trail,” the admiral stated mildly.
Captain Baker frowned as he tried to remember to what the admiral was referring to. Finally, he caught on and nodded. “Aye. To be honest, sir, I didn't even see the ion trails.”
“Assumptions are the mother of all frackups. Let's try to keep them down from now on.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
“I admit, it doesn't matter now since Stingy Jack is in the hands of madam death,” the admiral drawled. The captain nodded.
<()>^<()>
The Arboth class destroyer Slash and Tear picketing Tortuga noted the arrival of a ship on their long-range sensors. It would have been nice to get more details, but they were in the process of carefully cycling the recon drones and satellites in the star system.
It was becoming a problem. Two had been found and destroyed by the enemy. They were pushing the little probe's endurance, and it was showing. Engineering was having to do full teardown and rebuilds on a quarter of the probes that were coming back. One hadn't been recoverable. One other had failed but had been salvaged. Captain Kalua crew was using the guts for parts.
“Another ship. A cruiser,” CIC reported.
The captain nodded. “This should be interesting.”
<()>^<()>
Some of the life had returned to the star system over the past several months. A few of the hands had tried to recover what they could. Kix heard a few trying to sell cures to the plague or
vaccines. He snorted. Let the buyer beware. And the fools who let themselves be duped deserved what they got.
But, there was one other issue, one that was becoming a problem. Supplies were starting to grow short, especially consumables—food and fresh food for one. The black market was in full force. He was also aware that some were getting shorted while others were hoarding food.
He'd put off doing something about it, but the problem was going to be acute soon. He brought it to the attention of the admiral. The admiral just nodded and told him to handle it.
Easier said than done, the Neochimp thought as he tried to figure out how to handle the situation without stepping on too many toes.
<()>^<()>
Captain Wida Dab strolled through the lower decks of the factory ship module. She saw the dark sidelong looks but ignored them for the most part. But after a half hour of going up and down ladders she was starting to get irritable.
It was getting harder to keep her fellow Gnolls in line. The only way was to be brutal, but she couldn't rough them up too badly when they were so shorthanded. She needed every experienced engineer and hand to get the ships going.
When she heard some dark muttering around the corner, she slowed her stride to listen. “Be us pirates or whimps? How long will we put up with this?”
“Yar,” a voice said in agreement. Others said similar sentiments.
“The feds, they be here, watching us, and our ships can do nothin about it! I say it be time we move on. We be the one workin' the most, we engineers!” another voice griped. “We be workin' long hours while others be lordin' it up! Supplies be running short, no more food from the farms on Tortuga!”
“And I take it filling your belly with more than bellyaching is important?” a familiar noncom voice said. She nodded. It was about time she thought as she rounded the corner as the group tried to fade away.
They saw her, ducked their heads and tried to get past her but she blocked the way. Slowly she marched them back the way they'd come, one hesitant backward step at a time.
She put her hand on her whip. She carried it daily now. “These scalawags have loose tongues and too much free time, Mister Bacon,” she said, eyeing the space orc.